A veteran of two "Indiana Jones" films as well as heralded roles in such projects as "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "Shogun" and the TV series "Sliders," actor John Rhys-Davies is highly regarded for several different things he brings to his roles, including his undeniable charisma, his jovial demeanor and not the least of which, his commanding voice.

Yet, after more than 40 years in the business, it's the latter gift that some filmmakers still don't apparently know how to put to proper use -- not that Rhys-Davies seems to mind.

"One of the things I'll be doing soon -- if they can raise the money for it -- will be the role of a deaf-mute," Rhys-Davies told me with a hearty laugh in a recent interview. "Well, at least I won't have to learn any lines for that one."

Of course, director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas put all of Rhys-Davies' skills to terrific use in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," two of the four films that make up the new boxed set "Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures." Also consisting of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," the set marks the debut of the first three films in the quadrilogy on Blu-ray.

New in stores Tuesday, the Blu-ray set (Paramount Home Entertainment) also includes a fifth disc of bonus features, including a four-part documentary about all the films, several production featurettes and two new exclusive documentaries about "Raiders."

In his Indy film appearances Rhys-Davies plays Sallah, Indy's (Harrison Ford) faithful friend and colleague who assists the adventurous archeologist in his quest to track down the Ark of the Covenant in "Raiders" and the Holy Grail in "The Last Crusade."

Reflecting on his initial involvement in Raiders, Rhys-Davies said there was very little dialogue to put his booming voice to work, much less Ford's or Karen Allen, who stars as Indy's feisty love interest Marion Ravenwood.

"There wasn't much dialogue in it. It was made up of scene descriptions and action descriptions, and a story being told by images as much as words," Rhys-Davies recalled.

Of course, you would never know the bare bones structure of the script by looking at the film today, and that's why the bonus content of the boxed set is so fascinating, the veteran actor said.

"When I looked at the behind-the-scenes features on the new Blu-ray and DVD, what struck me was the extraordinary way Harrison was very deliberately styling, creating and defining this great, iconic character," Rhys-Davies said. "The debt the film owes is to Harrison's conception and manipulation of the material to create the character is extraordinary."

That's not to say Lucas and Spielberg weren't integral to the success of the film series, Rhys-Davies added. The actor still has an enormous amount of respect for the determination Lucas and Spielberg had to get films made the proper way.

"There's a synthesis between George and Steven. They're the young Turks' rebuttal to all those blasted people in studios who don't know how to make films and who make sure that other people don't get what they need to make them," Rhys-Davies said, laughing.

Rhys-Davies, who later, of course, went on to play the fearless dwarf, Gimli, in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, said he appreciated how Lucas and Spielberg gave him a lot of extra creative freedom to help shape Sallah in "Raiders."

"They gave me quite a lot of wiggle room in 'Raiders,' but in 'The Last Crusade' things were quite settled. You knew who Indy was, you knew who Sallah was, and then they made an important addition to the family with Indy's father (Sean Connery). When you add the great material genius of Connery, there isn't a lot of wiggle room left for the rest of us," Rhys-Davies said, laughing. "But that's not our job. Our job is to enrich the borders of the central canvas. And we do so to a greater or lesser extent."

While the chance of a fifth Indiana Jones film has yet to be determined, the actor, 72, was able to confirm, at least, that he could have been in 2008's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Skull" in a limited role, but declined the opportunity. It would have been, he said, in the wedding scene that concluded the film.

"I was actually in Hungary at the time of filming, and they did offer to send somebody over and do a bit of blue-screen with me coming in, sitting down and clapping," Rhys-Davies recalled. "To be honest with you, I thought there was just more to the character. (To do the scene) would have been a little bit of a cheat on the character."

Rhys-Davies said he would welcome the return of Sallah for a fifth film, but admits that he's simply at the mercy of the storytellers when it comes to the character's return.

"The truth of the matter is, he's a character borne of a location, and if the location isn't covered in the story, then he's surplus to the requirements of it (and he would not return)," Rhys-Davies said. "The problem for the producers is, he's a very loved character. He's very attractive to an audience, so there must be at least a temptation to bring him back for a new generation. To counter that, maybe times have changed, and perhaps a character like Sallah is no longer theatrically viable."

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